Introducing .net SmokeTest for Windows
The idea for SmokeTest came to me while working on a project to create an API for clients. It's easy enough to create an API but to test it thoroughly, beyond unit testing, is a bigger task. Generally you need to create a small test app in code to call the function of interest with all type and values of arguments and check and report the return values. That's a lot of repetitive work especially when the API requires "setup" or "login" procedures before they are functional. There has got to be a better way.Where there's smoke there's fire! |
Aha, Reflection |
Reflected Arguments |
So armed with a couple of weeks of free time on a cruise ship to Hawaii I decided to code the prototype for proof-of-concept. The result of those efforts was the first release of .net SmokeTest for Windows.
This first version only supported simple argument types like int, double and string. For most applications this covers a lot of the API and proved to be very useful indeed. Developers, QA and managers began using it when it was appropriate. It freed up developer's time since they no longer had to create a separate app to demonstrate the functionality. QA was more productive since they could test every edge condition rather than just what the developers decided to include and management started using it to debug support issues. All in all a useful tool across the board.
This is a real hands-on product. The best way to appreciate it's power is to try it out on your favorite Assembly, so go ahead and download it now, it's FREE. There is still a lot of room for features and enhancements. Here you'll find a list of stories I'm working on and some ideas for new features. Let me know if you have any suggestions or any thoughts you have.
Enjoy!
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